


Ties That Bind

by RennieMcTavish



Category: Actor RPF, British Actor RPF
Genre: Committed Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Love, Romance, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-13 21:44:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3397436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RennieMcTavish/pseuds/RennieMcTavish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom surprises his girlfriend after she gives him a hand with one of those pesky bow ties.<br/>Inspired in part by this photo:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>  <img/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Ties That Bind

Tom laughed as he continued to work on his bow tie. “I’m far from perfect, darling. I don’t always put the toilet seat down –”

She snorted. “Name something else.”

“Er … I forget to take my car in to be serviced?”

She rolled her eyes. “And?”

“I can’t do maths and my handwriting is atrocious!” Tom exclaimed. Allison thought he seemed ridiculously proud that he’d thought of two examples.

“Hmm. Gee, that’s a lot more deal breakers than I remembered …” She grinned at him in the mirror. “How is it that I even put up with you?” She winked.

He laughed and turned around. “Wait. What is it that I’m not doing correctly now?”

“Your tie.”

“What?”

“Your bow ties need work. They tend to be wonky.”

“Wonky?”

“Look in the mirror.”

He did. “Oh.” He had to admit that the tie _was_ rather lopsided.

“Remember the photos from the Oliviers and the BAFTAs?” Allison asked.

“Oh. Right.”

“Although you did quite well at the Evening Standards.”

“Such resounding praise.” He frowned. “Wait a minute. You’re that aware of my ties?”

Allison laughed. “It’s a little thing, I know, Tom, but you know how I am.”

“An obsessive perfectionist?” he muttered, just loud enough to be certain she’d hear it.

She glared at him. “I think that’s a little extreme.”

Tom was obviously trying not to laugh. He opened his mouth to speak.

“Anything you say isn’t going to make it better.”

“Even if I say that I love you for loving me enough to pay attention to these little things?”

Allison couldn’t help but smile at that.

Tom grinned back at her. “Get over here and adjust it, then.”

“Take it off,” she said as she crossed the room. “I’m going to retie it. Correctly.”

Tom took the tie off and handed it to her. “It’s all yours, babe. Do your worst.”

She poked him in the ribs and he chuckled. She reached up and draped the tie around his neck. “Mmm. You smell good,” she said as she leaned in. He really did. But then, he always did. Allison made the first knot in the tie.

“Argh!”

“Please. It’s not that tight.”

“Ehehehe.”

Fold. Straighten. Over. Through. Pull tight. Neaten.

Allison took a long time folding his collar down and smoothing his shirt . When she looked up, he was smiling – a contented smile.

“I like having you do this,” he said, bending down to kiss her on the forehead.

She toyed with one of the curls at the nape of his neck. “I’m glad I’m here to help this time.”

“I’d like you to be here all the time.”

“Well, okay! When’s the next time you have to wear a tux? I can fly in and help you get dressed. Speaking of which, you did wear something under those trousers, didn’t you?”

Tom looked away. “Of course I did.”

“Uh huh.”

He cleared his throat. “So you asked when my next formal occasion was.”

Allison nodded.

“It’s the Age of Ultron premiere. But I don’t want you here just for that.”

“You’re not making any sense. First you said you did, and now –”

“No. I said that I want you here _all_ the time.”

“Tom?” She looked at him quizzically.

“Allie, darling, I love you and I don’t want to be apart from you. I know this is out of the blue for you, but it isn’t for me. I’ve been thinking about it constantly. I probably shouldn’t just blurt it out like this, but — let’s move in together.”

He suddenly understood the word “radiant” better than he ever had before.

Allison was still smiling when she said, “Yes, let’s.” She put her hand on his cheek. “I love you, too. And, true confession? I’ve been thinking about how nice it would be to live together, too.”

Tom grabbed her in a big hug, squeezing her until she laughed. He let her go and kissed her. “We’ll talk more about it when I get home. But — about this new arrangement of ours – I have one condition.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”

“You have to promise me you’ll spend much more time helping me get undressed than you do helping me get dressed.”

“No worries there,” she said. She kissed him, drawing it out until she finally pulled away with a nip to his lower lip. “We’ll start practicing the undressing part later tonight.” She turned and sashayed out of the room. “Don’t stay out too late, Tom.”

“Um, I – I don’t really _have_ to go to this thing.”

He heard Allie laugh from the hallway before she said, “Ever hear of ‘delayed gratification,’ darling?”


End file.
